Lost to the Wind
by Writegirl
Summary: HOT DAMN! She's updated twice in one week! Chapter 7 brand spanking new! Traveling through Tokyo
1. Default Chapter

Saito Hajime shrugged out of his coat. Kyoto was still in an uproar over the Shi Shi-O incident, and it was already nearing dawn before he was able to return home. The moon shining through the open window was low on the horizon, but full, bathing the bedroom in silver light. His wife was asleep, the gentle scent of satsuma drifting in the air.  
Suddenly, he froze. Someone else was in the room. Before he could finish the thought his katana was out and held ready.  
"Where is he?"  
The soft voice drifted from the shadows of a corner. He knew its owner, but his katana didn't lower.  
"You've returned," he said to the shadows. "How was Britain?"  
"Where is he?"  
The voice hadn't changed. "Who?"  
"Himura."  
Saito paused. In ten years he hadn't heard the hitokiri speak so many words at once unless they concerned an assignment. "Why do you want to know?"  
There was no answer. He hadn't expected one. Sata didn't answer questions. Silence was the weapon of choice, silence that would unnerve another and force them to show their hand. The questions interested him though. He had several of his own concerning the assassin under his care, most of which were based on half-uttered rumors from a decade ago, and questions his superiors were either unable or unwilling to answer, and all of them dealt with the connection between this assassin and the legendary Battousai. "He returned home."  
The shadows parted, the voice slowly taking shape. Moonlight glinted off silver hair and the pale skin of face and neck, ran down the long length of a saya. But shadows still clung, as if attempting to draw the figure back into itself. "Where?"  
The man weighed his options. He could refuse to give the information, but it would be found out anyway and make an enemy of someone who was barely an ally. But, if he told, the Battousai might be killed, and Saito refused to allow that to happen unless it was his sword that struck home.  
Then again, this might be interesting.  
"Tokyo," he said, watching the assassin. The cold face hadn't changed, a slight shimmer in the dark eyes the only evidence that he'd been heard.  
"Where?"  
Saito smiled to himself. The voice was harder now, a slight difference that only someone who truly paid attention would notice. So, after ten years, he'd finally managed to drag a response from that cold surface.  
He turned around and began removing his shirt. "Kamiya Kashiin dojo, he stays with friends there," he didn't bother to turn around, knowing his audience had probably disappeared into the night before the last syllables left his lips. He would have to inform his superiors that Sata would be unavailable for a while. For a moment he thought about sending the rurouni a warning, but decided   
After all, variety was the spice of life.  
  
  
  
"No!"  
Himura Kenshin sat up in the darkness of his room, hand settled on his sword. The room was deathly quiet compared to the roar of his dreams. He sighed and stood, his hand lingering on the sakabato for the briefest of moments before heading outside. Autumn was coming, but the heat of late summer still lingered, mixing with the chill of fall. During the day it was hard to believe that in a few months they would have snow, not with the heat hovering as it did.  
"You're up late."  
Kenshin didn't turn his head as Sanouske walked up. "Can't sleep?" the taller man asked.  
"Hm," Kenshin answered, not really listening because he wasn't really there. His mind was drifting through the past, to times he'd thought long forgotten…  
"It'll be full again soon," Sano said, coming to stand next to his friend. "Fox lady has all these weird ideas about harvesting her herbs under the full moon. Something about tides and forces."  
Kenshin smiled at the thought of Megumi rustling through the trees at night, probably dragging Dr. Genzai along as well. She'd told him once that harvesting made her happy, gave her time to think, and he was glad she could find peace in something so simple.  
"Hey, Kenshin, you all right?"  
The red-head forced a smile. "Fine, Sanouske, just thinking," with that he turned and walked back to his room. He could feel Sano watching him, but he knew his friend wouldn't question him. They both had secrets that were better left unknown.  
  
  
  
  
Thanks for reading this!!!!!!! This is a teaser for a longer story i'm still working on, so let me know if I should post the rest! Please feed the author and leave a review on your way out!!! I accept all suggestions and reviews are placed on a shrine near my computer for moral support! Flames will be eaten with soy sauce and rum :) 


	2. Hello Again

"Ken-san! Ken-san! Over here!"  
  
Kenshin swatted the paper ball in Ayame's direction, wincing slightly at the pull on his muscles. The day was clear, the summer heat having lessened. It was still enough to dry the clothes swiftly, and for that he was grateful. It meant that he would have more time to play with Ayame and Suzume without worrying about the clothes taking all day. There were days when the girls seemed to have endless amounts of energy, and days when a few rice balls would put them to sleep for hours.  
  
Today was definitely one of the former.  
  
"Maa, maa," he said as they chased after the small ball, knowing there was no way they would calm down anytime soon.  
  
"Yahiko, you're blocks are still too high!"  
  
Kaoru's annoyed voice carried from the dojo.  
  
"They do what they're supposed to do!" Yahiko yelled back. "You cant get through them!"  
  
He could practically see the steam rising from her head. "Because I'm not really trying too. Those few inches could be used against you in a real fight! I wont be the only person you ever have to fight against!"  
  
"Listen ugly-"  
  
"Ugly? Ugly!" he heard the sound of feet running, and seconds later Yahiko emerged from the dojo, running full tilt with Kaoru chasing after him.  
  
"Yahiko, get back here this instant!"  
  
"If I'm such a bad student, why do you even bother teaching me anyway?" he shot back over his shoulder as he ran through the gate.  
  
Kenshin watched the exchange with a sigh. By tonight, Yahiko would have wandered back to the dojo, and tomorrow Kaoru would be teaching him as if nothing had happened. These fights happened at least once a week, sometimes more, depending on what else was happening in their small world.  
  
"Kaoru-dono?" he asked.  
  
She looked his direction, smiling as he absently batted the paper ball back to the little girls. "He's hopeless, isn't he?" she asked.  
  
Kenshin shook his head. "Head-strong, yes. Over-confident, perhaps. Hopeless, no. He will make a fine swordsman one day, that he will."  
  
She sighed again. "I'm going to take a bath," she plucked at the damp gi.  
  
"Hai," he answered. "I'll start the fire."  
  
As she walked towards the house Kenshin and the girls made their way to the bathhouse. The small break in their play must have been all they needed, because their energy level was dropping rapidly. He could tell that their energy was waning by the constant sighs and yawns that they gave as he had them run back and forth to check the water temperature. Hopefully, they would be asleep soon, and he would have a chance to work on dinner.  
  
Once Kaoru was in her bath he carried the little girls to the house, both of them complaining sleepily. Once they were laid down, though, they went to sleep without a problem. The clothes were still damp, so he went to the kitchen. He could at least begin cutting up vegetables for dinner. He thought of his dreams, dreams of his past, filled with death and blood. There were times when he was almost able to forget who he was, what he was. Then they would come, reminders of what lurked beneath his calm surface.  
  
"Still going?"  
  
"Hai," he said cheerfully as Kaoru walked past almost an hour later. He turned to get the laundry, but she stopped him.  
  
"Taken care of, Kenshin. Why don't you take a break? Ayame and Suzume should be asleep for another hour or so."  
  
Kenshin nodded, not really sure what to do. Idle time wasn't something he'd been used to. Growing up had been a routine of chores and practice, his time as an assassin spent in between sleep and wakefulness.  
  
He yawned, them smiled to himself. Perhaps he needed a nap too.  
  
_____________________________________________________________  
  
Two days later Kenshin sighed as Kaoru practically stormed out of the dojo, the ribbon in her hair streaming behind her. The day had been particularly difficult. Yahiko had come back, refusing to apologize as always, and as always she began training him again, though he noticed that there was more contact of bokken on flesh than was normal. The stubbornness between the two of them was astounding. He'd known donkeys that were less inclined to be difficult.  
  
"They will do as the wish," he murmured to himself, staring at the sky. It would be dark soon, giving them a respite from the waning heat. Dinner needed to be started soon. As he rose to fetch water from the well he could feel the hairs on the back of his neck rising. Someone was near. There was a spark of ki, but it disappeared before he could find the source.  
  
"You okay, Kenshin?"  
  
He turned towards Yahiko, hiding his apprehension. "I'm fine, Yahiko. You are supposed to be practicing, are you not?"  
  
The boy scratched the back of his head sheepishly. "Just taking a break."  
  
Kenshin smiled. Taking a break indeed. He'd stopped almost the moment Kaoru went shopping. "My Shishou constantly watched me to make sure I completed my tasks. Only once did I attempt to get out of exercises," well did he remember that single time. He'd deliberately miscounted his strokes, believing Hiko was not paying attention.  
  
"What happened?" Yahiko asked. Kenshin usually didn't talk about his past.  
  
"I had to perform 5000 strokes before the next dawn," he remembered battering the large tree outside their small hut, imagining that it was his Shishou. "I did every single one, that I did," he saw himself stopping and dipping his hands into the stream, watching as the blood turned the water pink before being washed away.  
  
The small boy grimaced. "I knew he was an ass."  
  
Kenshin started. Most people never knew that about Hiko, mostly because he never gave people the time to learn. Perhaps his Shishou had stayed at the Aoyia when he was injured. He had the vague memory of his master sitting next to him, telling him to recover, that there was still work to be done, and that if he didn't get up off his ass soon his master would have to take matters into his own hands. Kenshin shivered. If Hiko told his friends half the things he'd done as a child, he'd never be able to look them in the face again. There was a reason his Shishou called him his baka deishi.  
  
"He does have a shitty attitude," he said, fighting to not laugh at the expression on Yahiko's face. He seldom cursed, and never without just cause. In his eyes his Shishou was all the reason he'd ever need. "Come, Yahiko, you should really-"  
  
He stopped, looking over his shoulder. The ki was back, stronger this time. Closer.  
  
"Kenshin?"  
  
"Hai?" he turned to his friend, this time not bothering to hide his feelings. Something was wrong, and he couldn't tell what it was.  
  
The next week passed without incident. It was oddly quiet for someone who was used to fighting what seemed to be a different person each week. His body had been given the much-needed time to rest and recover from Shi Shi O, and he could feel his old strength returning. There were still time when he felt his muscles protesting when he stretched or moved a certain way, but even that was beginning to fade. It was relaxing, not having to worry about where his friends were, what was happening with them. His life had slipped into a calming routine of babysitting, cleaning, and practicing with Yahiko. He refused to teach the boy Hiten Mitsurugi Ryu, but never turned down the opportunity to spar with him.  
  
Yes, things in their lives were almost normal.  
  
_____________________________________________________________________  
  
"Hello?"  
  
Kaoru blinked. That voice, so soft and clear, was odd coming from such a serious face. She started at the worn sandals and followed the body up, taking in the well cared for but worn grey hakama and blue gi. "Hello, can I help you?"  
  
The boy smiled. "Hai. I'm looking for a man. He has red hair and violet eyes, and goes by the name Himura. I was told I might find him here."  
  
She smiled. The boy was practically embarrassed to be talking to her, his hands twisting in front of him, a slight blush painting his cheeks. He couldn't have been older than 15, but she forced herself to pause. Not thinking about what she said had gotten them in trouble before, and Kaoru narrowed her eyes, trying to figure out if the boy was a threat. Over the past few months they had been given a respite from the crazed killers who seemed to dog Kenshin's footsteps, but she had come to be very wary of strangers. "Why are you looking for him?"  
  
The dark eyes warmed. "Kenshin-san saved my life years ago, but I never really had the chance to thank him for helping me and my village," his cheeks were practically flaming by the time he finished that sentence. "I'm from Shozu, its about four days from here. We'd heard that a swordsman had come to Tokyo, and that he looked like the man who saved us," the hands started twisting again, and the blush deepened. "I was the only one who could come this time of year, with the harvest so close. I have a gift for him."  
  
Kaoru smiled in spite of herself. The boy was too cute, almost dancing in place with his embarrassment and hope. "Well, I'm sure Kenshin would be pleased to see you again."  
  
The smile she was given was blinding. "Really? He's here, then?" at her nod it seemed like a weight lifted from his thin shoulders. "It's the first time I've really traveled alone, and I was praying that he'd be here. My mother's probably worried about me," he looked down.  
  
"She'll be seeing you soon," she stepped aside. "Come in."  
  
"Seiji," the boy leaned down and picked up a large cloth bag and a wrapped bundle. "Osama Seiji."  
  
Kenshin opened his eyes. Something was wrong, terribly wrong. The ki that had teased him the week before was back, flaring painfully bright, and too close to the dojo.  
  
The rurouni walked to the door of the dojo and froze. Someone was walking next to Kaoru. At first he thought it was Soujiro, for the boy was roughly the same size and shape as the Ten-ken. But Soujiro had never had this kind of energy pouring off him.  
  
As they approached Kaoru started laughing at something to boy said, and Kenshin cringed. Couldn't she sense the danger that came off of him? Suddenly, it stopped, and the boy looked his way. "Kenshin, this is Seiji, he said he knows you," Kaoru said, motioning to her companion. The warmth in the boy's expression froze over, leaving a cold mask behind.  
  
"Step away from her," he said, coming off the porch and walking into the yard.  
  
"Kenshin." Kaoru backed away from Seiji, feeling the change that came over him. His expression, which had been so open a moment before, was closed.  
  
Seiji's eyes were fixed on the rurouni. "Had I wanted to kill her she would have been dead before opening the gate."  
  
Kaoru paled, but kept moving slowly away from the two until she was behind Kenshin.  
  
"Why are you here?" he asked, noting that the boy held no weapons, but that meant little. There were several weapons that could be concealed on a person.  
  
The boy cocked his head, and Kenshin felt the battle ki again, only this time it was gentle, almost like a caress, before it abruptly ended. Something about him disturbed Kenshin, something he couldn't place. Whoever the boy was, he had training, that much was certain.  
  
"Himura Kenshin, I will deliver Tenchuu."  
  
Kenshin's eyes widened, and he barely had time to dodge the katana that came whirring at his head. His muscles protested against the sudden movement, but he willed them into compliance. He parried the next two blows and was surprised when the boy backed away, and watched him.  
  
He must have been part of the Inshin Shi Shi, he thought, sizing up the boy and his weapon. Only another hitokiri would know the significance of that phrase.. The katana was shorter than normal, but wasn't truly a short sword or a kodaichi, nor did he wield it like one. Nor could the boy be old enough to have fought in the wars. He could hardly be more than 15, if he was even that, but he carried himself with the assurance of one used to fighting.  
  
"Hey, Kenshin, what-" Yahiko game around the side of the house and froze. "Who-"  
  
"Yahiko, take Kaoru-dono inside and don't come out until I say."  
  
The boy bristled. "What the hell is going on Ken-"  
  
"Please," he wished he could give the boy a reassuring glance, but he couldn't risk it. This boy was fast, almost as fast as he was. He could hear the two of them hurrying indoors, and felt a burden lift from him. They were out of harms way, for now.  
  
"I told you, they weren't my target."  
  
The boy's voice was flat and emotionless, and it finally struck him why Seiji disturbed him so much. The attitude, the stance, even the way he spoke and dressed, it all reminded him of himself eleven years ago.  
  
He attacked again, faster this time, slashing at Kenshin's head. The rurouni slid under the blow, prepared to deliver one across his opponents open chest. He tried to pull his sakaba, and couldn't. The boy had one hand on the hilt, applying all his weight to it. Kenshin took the opportunity to throw him off balance and moved back, but the boy nimbly adjusted his stance.  
  
"You're well trained," he commented after they separated again.  
  
Some of the coldness left Seiji's expression. "I had a good teacher."  
  
They exchanged blows again, and Kenshin fought down his frustration. Nothing he did would connect, the boy remained always just out of range, his sword just making it in time. The rurouni gritted his teeth. He knew when he was being teased.  
  
It was time to bring this fight to a close.  
  
"Hiten Mitsurugi Ryu- Do Ryu Sen!"  
  
The ground shattered under his sword, sending rock and dirt flying at the boy. With one slash the projectiles stopped and fell harmlessly to the ground, leaving Kenshin stunned.  
  
The boy had studied Hiten Mitsurugi Ryu. He knew exactly how to counter the attack.  
  
His thoughts drifted to his master. There was no way he would have allowed another student to walk away from the training, to make his own path. It was even more unlikely that he would have taken on another student, no matter their talent. At the very least, he would have mentioned it while Kenshin completed his training, would have loved the opportunity to rub his baka deishi's face in the fact that he had another student, one that was no doubt more worthy than the moody boy he'd taken in.  
  
Kenshin sheathed his sword, crouching down into the battou-jitsu stance. The boy may have studied the technique, could have been watching him for some time, but there were some things that couldn't be learned through watching.  
  
"Hiten Mitsurugi Ryu- Kuzu Ryu Sen!"  
  
Time slowed. He saw his opponent clearly, standing there. He barely registered the calm expression on Seiji's face before he turned his blade aside, knocking away two throwing knives. They were just enough to take him off balance. He passed harmlessly, and turned in midair, determined to land a final blow across the boy's back, when he felt the jerk. Seiji had grabbed the loose material of his sleeve.  
  
Kaoru and Yahiko watched as the two tumbled to the ground in a cloud of dust. "Kenshin!" She yelled, pushing past her student and running into the yard. What she saw there froze her. Kenshin was standing over Seiji, his sakaba at the boy's throat. Seiji was sprawled beneath him, but the tip of his katana rested against Kenshin's chest, directly over his heart.  
  
Neither man moved.  
  
Kenshin watched Seiji carefully. The boy didn't move at all, he simply watched him with eyes suddenly gone warm. Slowly, his hand lowered until the katana was resting against the ground.  
  
"Chôcho."  
  
Kenshin backed away. No one had called him that in over ten years, and even then it was a nickname that only one person knew about. He stared at the boy, confusion plain on his face, and Seiji stared back. The rurouni's mind whirled. Who was this? How did he know? The only person who knew had been dead for more than a decade.  
  
Kaoru watched, puzzled, as Kenshin backed away. He was watching the boy more carefully now than he had before, his eyes wide and searching. It was an expression she had seldom seen on her friend's face.  
  
Seiji stood and calmly began dusting himself off, uncaring of the man staring at him. He looked up then, and smiled, the expression out of place on his face, as if he were unused to doing it.  
  
"It is me, Chôcho," he said slowly, voice altering as he spoke. He reached up and touched his hair. "Remember, the dye?"  
  
The rurouni felt his knees weaken, the grip on his sakaba slacken. It was impossible, it couldn't be. But only one person would have called him that, only one person would have known what to say. "Gin-san?"  
  
Kaoru saw his lips move, but the word he spoke was to quiet. Before she could move he was standing in front of Seiji.  
  
Hugging him.  
  
Kaoru blinked. Kenshin was never one to show affection physically. If she so much as touched him without his knowledge it would knock him off balance for minutes on end. To see him hugging someone, let alone someone who had tried to kill him moments before, was confusing to say the least.  
  
Seiji appeared to be in her boat as well. The boy stood stock still, his katana still gripped in his hand. His other hand was similarly slack, as if he were unsure as to how to react.  
  
"What's going on, Kaoru?" Yahiko asked.  
  
The girl looked down at her student, then at the two men who seemed frozen. "I don't know," she answered.  
  
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	3. Memories Long Past

Gin willed herself to relax in his embrace. The man she knew had never been fond of physical affection. He had avoided it, and people in general, whenever possible. Despite this there was no longer any doubt in her mind that he was the man she searched for. He was older, though it barely showed. He was still the same thin short man she had known, but there was something different about him, a softness that had not been there before.  
Himura pushed away from her, his violet eyes searching her face intently. "It is you," he whispered.  
She nodded. "Hai."  
"Kenshin, what's going on?"  
It was the girl, Kaoru. She was standing a short distance away, far enough so that the casual swipe of a sword would have no affect. Her estimation in Gin's eyes went up a notch.  
"Kaoru-dono, Yahiko, this is Gin," Himura said, embarrassment clear in his voice.  
Gin turned. Kaoru watched her with a barely held hostility that was tempered by curiosity. She was nervous, afraid, unsure; her posture, the way she held her hands all screamed it. But she was also willing to fight, that her ki shouted loud and clear. Gin's hand tightened on her katana.  
"I am honored to meet you, Kamiya Kaoru, Miyojin Yahiko" she said, bowing deeply.  
The two watched her. "Pleased to meet you as well, Gin-san," Kaoru answered automatically.  
Yahiko wasn't nearly as polite. "Wait a minute! You come in here, fight with Kenshin, then just think you can bow and everything's all right? No way!"  
Gin tilted her head. The boy was fiery, sure of himself, but he was also afraid. "I meant no harm to anyone, I assure you."  
His eyes widened. "You tried to kill him! I've seen people fight before, and you weren't holding back a damned thing!"  
"Yahiko!" Kaoru blushed.  
"I had to be certain that Himura was who he claimed to be. The only way to do that would be to judge his abilities in battle."  
The boy seethed, the answer not good enough for him. Before he could retort, Kenshin stepped in. "I'm sorry if she frightened you-"  
"SHE?!" two unbelieving voices shouted at the same time.  
"Yes, 'she'," Gin answered, staring into their disbelieving faces.  
"Whoa, you're flatter than Misao- Hey!" Yahiko growled when Kaoru smacked him.  
She turned to Kaoru. "Kamiya-san, I apologize for entering your home under false pretenses, and for frightening you and your student. Please forgive me for this intrusion."  
The girl just stood there, mouth open. She stuttered out an acceptance before looking back to Kenshin.  
"Gin-san, why are you here?" the question was spoken in all seriousness, and she turned to Himura.  
"I learned that you had recently been to Kyoto. It was the first news I have had of you in a decade. I wished to see for my own eyes that you were alive," she nodded again. "Once again, I apologize for my behavior," she turned to leave, resheathing her katana. The slim blade slid effortlessly into the saya hidden on her back, disappearing completely from view.  
"Wait, where are you going?" Kaoru called after her.  
Gin turned back. The three of them were staring at her as if she'd suddenly grown another head. "Evening is coming, and there are several inns that may still have vacancies if I hurry."  
Kaoru smiled. "I would be honored if you would stay with us."  
She blinked. This girl, who barely knew her, who had just witnessed her attempt to kill a man she counted as friend, was asking her to stay. "I couldn't impose."  
The girl smiled again, walked up and wrapped her arm around Gin's. To her credit the hitokiri didn't react. "I insist."  
Gin looked between the three of them. Yahiko was still glaring daggers at her, while Kaoru and Kenshin were studying her intently. "If it would be no trouble-"  
"No trouble at all!" Kaoru stepped forward and began dragging her towards the house. "I'm sure you'd like a bath after traveling all the way from Kyoto, Gin-san. Kenshin?"  
"Oro? Oh. Hai!" the rurouni headed for the bath house.  
Gin watched as he headed straight to the woodpile and began collecting logs. Watching him doing manual labor was something she was used to. When he wasn't killing, he often helped around the inn, hauling water, cutting wood. If he'd known she left their room to watch him from the roof she would have been severely punished. But to see him do so now, ordered about by a slip of a girl, was odd.  
"You run this dojo by yourself, from what I understand," Gin said as they walked into the house.  
Kaoru nodded. "It is my father's legacy to me. How did you know?"  
Gin examined the hall they walked through. Everything was aged and slightly worn, but well loved. "I've been watching this place for some time. I also gathered some information in Tokyo."  
Kaoru stared straight ahead. "Why were you gathering information about me?"  
"Not about you in particular, but you and everyone associated with Himura-san. As I said, I wanted to make sure I had the right person."  
"Why not just ask?"  
She looked at the other woman incredulously. "Why let you know of my presence for no reason? If you were not the people I searched for, you would gain nothing knowing I was interested in you."  
Kaoru blushed. She was prettier when she blushed, Gin noted. It made her look more feminine. She looked down at herself. Dressed as she was, feminine would be the last thing to enter anyone's mind concerning her. "Ah. I suppose that makes sense," she opened a door. "This can be your room for as long as you wish to stay."  
Gin nodded. "Thank you for you hospitality. In truth, I hardly expected it, considering how I made my appearance."  
Kaoru laughed nervously. "At least you weren't really trying to kill Kenshin. Everyone else who knew him comes with only that in mind, even when they need his help."  
Gin cocked her head at this but said nothing. "Have you had much trouble from his past then, Kaoru-san?"  
Her blue eyes darkened. "Some. But things have been quiet around here for some time. I think we were all waiting for something to happen and rock the boat," she laughed, the sound pure and clear in the room. "Look at me, keeping you from your bath. Please, take as much time as you like."  
  
Kaoru fought down the surge of jealousy that engulfed her when Gin emerged from the bathhouse. Without the dust of travel she was actually pretty. The light blue kimono and lavender obi she wore complemented her skin tone perfectly, her hair tumbled in short locks around her face. Even though she still had a boyish cast about her, it made her all the more endearing. Apparently, she wasn't as flat as Yahiko had assumed, since she filled out the kimono rather nicely. Everything she did looked effortless, down to the way she held her chopsticks. Even her politeness wasn't forced.  
  
Then there was the way she looked at Kenshin. No, not looked, Kaoru corrected herself. Stared. Even though they were little more than short glances, they still had all the weight of a lengthy stare behind them. But he didn't seem to notice, or if he did, he didn't comment on them. But that wasn't the most disturbing thing.  
The most disturbing thing was how he looked at her.  
"So, you live in Kyoto?" Yahiko asked.  
"Hai. I've lived there for almost eleven years now, ever since Bakumatsu."  
"But you weren't there when we were there?"  
"No. I was serving as a guard to the ambassador to Great Britain. I'd only just returned when I discovered that Himura had been in Kyoto."  
"So you work for the government now?" Kenshin asked. It was the first direct question he'd given her since dinner started.  
Gin nodded. "Yes. I was assigned to the secret police, under Saito Hajime."  
"Saito, that jackass!?" "Why him!?"  
Gin looked between the young boy and his teacher. "I take it you've met him?"  
Both grimaced. "Unfortunately." they answered in unison.  
"He really isn't as bad as he makes himself out to be," Gin started. "He enjoys pushing the buttons of others."  
"Wait, you're defending that bastard!?" Yahiko looked like he was going to have a stroke. "He comes in here acting all high and mighty, challenges Kenshin, then drags him off to Kyoto..."  
"Maa, maa, Yahiko. Calm down. It was nothing like that-"  
"Yes it was, and you know it," Kaoru jumped in. "I cant believe anyone would be around that jerk anymore than they had to."  
"Kaoru-dono, that's not fair-"  
"AND WHY ARE YOU DEFENDING HIM!" both his friends shouted.  
Gin watched the exchange. Never had she known anyone to raise their voice to him. No one would have dared. Most found it a harrowing experience to be in the same room with him, let alone carry on a conversation. Now these two children were yelling at him as if he were a common servant. What was even more astonishing was that he was allowing it, amusement glittering in his eyes as he watched them fight for the privilege of yelling at him.  
"Don't yell at Kenshin!"  
"Why not? You do, Busu!"  
"What did you call me?!"  
  
"Busu! Busu, busu, busu..." WHACK!  
"Yahiko, that is hardly something you call your sensei-"  
"Stay out of it Kenshin!"  
"Yahiko, respect your elders!"  
That made the rurouni blush to the roots of his hair. Elder indeed. He barely looked more than five years older than Yahiko himself.  
Gin looked between the three people. Odd wasn't the word to describe the scene.  
"Himura-san, how did you manage to find these two?" she asked quietly as the boy and girl argued.  
He smiled. "Actually, they managed to find me. Kaoru challenged me nearly seven months ago. She believed that I was a serial killer that was using the name Hitokiri Battousai. After everything was cleared up, she wanted me to stay."  
"And Yahiko?"  
"A pickpocket who was in the employ of the local yakuza. They rethought their claim to him."  
She watched his eyes lighten. "I'm sure they did."  
"Hey, what are you two whispering about?" Yahiko asked, his breathing labored as Kaoru was currently sitting on him.  
"Nothing of import," Gin answered lightly. "I take it you lost the argument?"  
Yahiko grinned. "No, its just that busu's so damn heavy that... HEY!"  
Whatever the boy had been about to say was cut off by a dumpling being shoved unceremoniously into his mouth.  
"Quite a pair, are they not?" Kenshin asked, amusement and exasperation in his voice.  
Gin watched the struggling duo before nodding. "Hai."  
After a few more minutes the two calmed down again, and Kaoru began gathering the dishes. "So, I guess I'll start cleaning. Yahiko, want to help me?"  
The boy laughed. "No."  
"Yahiko, grab a bowl," Gin pretended not to notice the way Kaoru looked at her and Kenshin, trying to get the boy to see the point. He did, but grumbled as he gathered cups and bowls and stalked into the kitchen.  
"As subtle as a boulder, isn't she?"  
Kenshin smiled. "Her frankness is refreshing. Kaoru-dono is a good person, with an open and ready heart. She merely as something of a temper," he fingered the back of his head.  
"You allow her to hit you."  
"It makes her feel better, that it does."  
Gin looked to the door, the argument the two were currently having drifting through the thin paper. "An odd woman. But then again, you seem to attract nothing but."  
Kenshin drank his tea slowly, staring into nothing. For the barest of moments Gin felt something like guilt, but it was quickly extinguished. "So, I understand that you have been traveling for these last eleven years. That was the penance you finally decided on."  
The rurouni looked into this cup. "There was nothing else to do after Bakumatsu, so I traveled, helping people where I could. I even left Japan itself for three years."  
That got Gin's attention. "Where?"  
"China," Kenshin's eyes lightened at the memory. "There were so many refugees in the ports that I had almost no trouble communicating, nor did another person speaking Japanese seem out of place. After a few months I decided to stretch a bit farther, and headed for America."  
Gin lifted one eyebrow as she drank her tea. America, the little she'd seen on her way to Britain, had been less than welcoming of anyone. "How did you like it?"  
"I daresay I had an easier time than most, with my coloring," he fingered one of the red strands. "Learning the language proved more difficult than I would have imagined."  
"I didn't know you could speak English," Gin said in that language. Over the past three years her accent had gotten rather good, at least enough so that she'd shocked the British people she'd spoken to near the end of her stay.  
Kenshin smiled and set down his cup. "Not nearly as well as you," he answered in slightly halting phrases. His accent was still thick, but understandable. "I traveled along the western seaboard before returning home," he said in Japanese. "I heard many things about the east and south of the country, but decided that I needed to see my homeland again. Three years was long enough for the bloodiest of my wounds to heal."  
Gin said nothing. So that was how he managed to disappear so completely. The Meiji government had sent several people out to find him in the first years after Bakumatsu, but no one found anything. It had been unbelievable, for how could someone with such unique coloring simply vanish without a trace? "It is something, isn't it?" Gin stared off into the distance. "London was so crowded, the people were dirty and rude. Coming home was strange. I kept expecting to wake up in London again, and have to deal with dressing in those horrible outfits," in her minds eye she recalled the first time the maids had placed her in a corset. "And the food was less than appetizing, though there were a few dishes that I learned to make."  
"Like?"  
Gin smiled. "I'll have to surprise you someday."  
The rurouni suddenly became serious. "What happened, Gin-san. I was told you were captured, and died."  
Gin felt what little lightness that had entered her soul drain away. She tried to not remember what had happened to her, letting the memory drift along the edges of her mind in the vain hope that it would eventually fade. "The assignment in Nagoya was a setup. The hitokiri who was supposed to take it was actually a spy. I think some of the Ishin must have known, which was why he was stationed so far from anywhere important. He was to contact the Shinsen Gumi stationed there with information concerning a meeting between Katsura and Himata. A whole detachment was awaiting me at the target's house," she closed her eyes, remembering how the men had seemed to keep coming, how she finally fell beneath them, and fingered the bullet scar on her shoulder. "Apparently, it was decided that anyone captured be detained and kept for questioning. They knew that I must be another hitokiri, one that they had no knowledge of," she grimaced. "Once they examined the corpses they believed they'd caught the famous Battousai, and sent word to their superiors in Kyoto."  
Kenshin closed his eyes. He'd been hunted for almost three years before that. The militia must have been overjoyed, believing they finally had the chance to avenge their fallen comrades. "How long?"  
"Twenty-six days."  
Kenshin felt a wave of sadness wash over him. He'd seen what happened to men who were captured during the wars, those few that managed to return alive. He could only imagine what had happened to her there. "But you escaped."  
"Familiarity breeds contempt. When I never tried to escape they became lax in their security. Eventually, one of them made a mistake," It was the last any of them made. She'd killed everyone stationed there, fifteen men dead before anyone truly knew the prisoner was free. She didn't know how she'd done it. It seemed as if she'd fallen asleep, and woken to a house of corpses. "I made my way back to Kyoto after that, hoping that I would find you, but you were already gone."  
The two sat in silence for a moment. " When I returned it was like coming back from the dead. Everyone treated me like a ghost in those first few days. Katsura-san nursed me back to health, which wasn't easy. My shoulder and wrist had to be rebroken and set properly, among other things. I was healing for ten months before I had fully recovered. When Katsura-san deemed me well enough, I was turned over to Okubo, and then stationed under Saito for the time being. They believed he was more than capable of reigning in such a volatile person," Gin stopped and took a long drink of her tea. The liquid was still hot, and burned a path down her throat. "There were a few others like us there as well. Most of them have either died or retired now, their pasts a memory," Gin finished the tea in her cup, and stared into the bottom. "We are the last of a dying breed, Himura- san."  
"Hai," he whispered.  
  
Thank you so much for reading this!!! Extra special thanks goes to Namiko the anime wizard and haku baiko for their reviews. Thanks so much!!!!  
  
Please leave a donation in the feedback box on your way out!! I love hearing what people think and I do take suggestions and constructive criticism to heart!!! What would you like to get out of this fic? Let me know!!!! All reviews are placed on a shrine next to my computer for moral support. All flames will be eaten with soy sauce and rum ( 


	4. Sunrise

-----

__

Kenshin watched as Gin backed into a doorway, blending effortlessly with the shadows. There was only a sliver of moon in the sky, perfect for what they had to do. It would be his pupil's first time killing, and he felt nervous energy course through him. What if she couldn't complete her assignment? What if she balked at the last moment? He shook his head. Now was not the time to doubt. If he'd had any it should have been before they left the inn an hour ago, not while they were waiting for their target to come to them.

The man was known to frequent the pleasure quarters. His name wasn't important, nor was what he'd done. He'd been marked, and it was their duty to bring him to justice. Kenshin repeated this in his mind as he waited, fighting down the voice that hovered just on the edge of his mind, the voice that told him his logic was faulty, that he was wrong. From his position on the roof he could see clearly everything that happened along the brightly lit street that served as the main causeway of Gion. Just beyond the gates that marked the area, there was darkness. 

His head snapped up as he detected movement outside the Flower Drum Song house. Three men left and began walking out of the pleasure quarter. Their prey usually only had one other man with him, but tonight he'd added an accomplice. Jumping soundlessly from roof to roof he followed, noting that Gin began trailing them at a safe distance as well. By the time they were at the waterfront he was beginning to worry again. Gin should have struck by now, for the streets were empty this late at night. She had yet to motion to him though, to ask for his assistance. Two he was confident she could handle, but three? It was time to see if his year and a half of training had done any good.

"Takamura Oyashi, I will deliver Tenchuu."

Before the men could turn she was moving, cutting through them with ease. Kenshin fought the feeling of pride that came over him as he watched he flick her sword free of blood. There should be no pride in teaching someone to kill, no pride in taking a young girl and turning her into a killer. A girl too fragile and eager to please to know what she was really doing.

The hitokiri looked down to see his pupil still standing over the corpses, head cocked to the side as if pondering something. Silently, he jumped down. "What is it?"

She looked at him, then shook her head, using the flowing sleeve of Takamura's gi to wipe the blade of her katana before sheathing it. "Nothing," she pulled out the sheet of paper and placed it gently on the dead man's back, using his own short sword to hold it in place before turning and walking calmly down an alley.

Kenshin looked down at the corpses. All three had been clean kills, no sign of hesitation, no sign that she'd held back in any way. Turning, he followed her.

_Katsura would be pleased._

----

Kenshin opened his eyes. He hadn't thought about that night in years. In fourteen years, three months, and seventeen days to be exact. The first time he'd let her loose to do as she will. 

The first time he'd told her to kill.

It was perhaps one of the greatest ironies in his life, he thought as he walked into the yard and hefted a bucket of water from the well. He'd hated the people who told him to kill, no matter what he said to their faces. In the beginning, he'd felt that he was doing what was right, that he would be able to do more good as an assassin, taking down those important to the cause, rather than fighting the nameless masses. After a few months, months of almost endless killing and no visible change, he'd started to reassess that idea. After a year he'd asked to be reassigned, to be little more than a soldier, one of the many thousands who's worked for the Ishin Shi Shi, but had been denied. Their reasons had been sound to him at the time, now he wondered if it was his own burgeoning madness that made their reasons seem so right. He'd remained what he was, a soldier who had no face, no name, no life outside of the ending of others. There was always a lingering resentment for the people who had taken that optimistic young boy and turned him into a ruthless killer. Then, he'd turned around and did the same thing to someone else. The only difference was that he'd managed to escape from that life, Gin was still trapped in it.

_No use thinking about the past, its the one thing you cant change,_ he thought to himself as he pulled on his clothes. He'd placed those thoughts behind him long ago, or so he'd thought. He opened the door to his room. The sun had yet to rise, but it was almost time, the east just showing the first faint blushes of light. He breathed in deeply. He'd always enjoyed the time just before dawn. Even on the battlefield, it was a time of quiet, of peace. The clouds glistened in the morning light, turning shades of purple and gold.

"You're up early."

Gin was sitting on the porch, leaning against one of the beams, a katana leaning against her shoulder. He blinked, and looked more closely. It couldn't be.

" Katsura found this on the battlefield the day you left," she said, staring towards the dawn. "No one else would pull it from the ground. The other soldiers believed it was cursed. He gave it to me before he sent me to Okubo. He never did discover what happened to your short sword."

Kenshin looked at his old katana. He knew every groove, every nick. It was the one Hiko had given him, after he trusted him enough not to cut off his own hands. It had been old, but well made, and loved even more. Even after Katsura gave him a proper daisho, he'd kept his own katana. In truth, he never thought to see it again. Prayed he'd never see it again. "I don't want it here," he whispered. "It carries too much blood for this place, too many memories."

She nodded. "This sword has served me for the past eleven years, Himura-san. I believe it has more blood from me than from you," she let her head drop. "Does it truly bother you so much?"

He looked down at his feet, then towards the sunrise. Did it bother him? If it did, why did he fell something like relief, just seeing it again? "I don't know."

She rose, her yukata swirling around her legs. "If it bothers you, I'll keep it in my room. You need never see it again."

"My thanks," he said to her back as she walked back to her room, wondering if that would be enough. He'd distanced himself from his past, both physically and mentally. When he walked away from the battle of Boshin he'd carried nothing but food and the clothes on his back. His spare clothes, supplies, everything was left in the tent he shared with Katsura. Kenshin watched as Gin disappeared in her room. He stood there a moment more, thinking about the person she'd become. The girl he'd known was gone, leaving a woman in her place, a woman that was familiar, yet still a stranger. 

Gin emerged a few moments later, dressed in a serviceable pair of pants and long shirt. "Care to walk with me?"

Kenshin looked around. Kaoru wouldn't be up for another hour at least. So long as he watched the time, he could be back and make breakfast before she woke. "Hai."

The walk along the wall of the dojo was always peaceful. Very few people, if any, passed along the river, and even then not that early in the morning. The bustle of the city seemed far away, even though a few more blocks would have placed them in the center of Tokyo.

"You are a rich man, Himura-san, did you know that?"

Kenshin started. "Nani?"

Gin didn't pause in her stride. " When you left Katsura decided that he needed to repay you in some way. That was one of the reasons he attempted to find you. The money owed to you, for services performed over the course of six years, has been waiting for you in Kyoto. From what I was told, it is a considerable amount."

Kenshin blinked. He was wealthy? It was a word he never dreamed of attaching to himself. To survive was enough. "Why wasn't I told by Saito?"

"He doesn't know," Gin answered. "The only people who know about it still would be myself and Aritomo. I traveled with a small portion of it, and will give it to you today."

The rurouni felt his mind whirling. With the money he could at the very least begin helping Kaoru with the cost of providing for two people and a rampant free loader.

"You said you worked for the secret police," he said after a moment.

Gin nodded. "Saito decided that my skills would be most useful to the Meiji government if I resumed my previous duties. I was assigned to the ambassador because the government believed he needed someone who could be closer to him than a simple bodyguard, but I plan on returning to my duties upon my arrival in Kyoto."

Kenshin fought down a swell of pity. So it was as he feared. She may have taken up service as a body guard, but at her center she was still a hitokiri. " Why have you chosen to continue your life in this way, Gin-san?"

She watched a leaf as it was swirled away by the current of the river. " I am a hitokiri. I have no other skills."

The words rocked Kenshin to his core. They were the exact ones he'd given to Katsura years ago. " You have been many things in your life, Gin," he said, controlling his anger. "Death isn't the only path you can take."

"No, it is not," she turned and looked him full in the face. The coldness in her eyes startled him. "But it is the one best suited for me."

Sadness such as the rurouni had seldom felt washed over him. Gin was set on her path, and no matter what he said to her, it was long past the time when his words would have held any meaning for her. "The times have changed, Gin. We no longer need to further our aims through death."

Gin continued walking, leaving Kenshin behind as she started back towards the dojo. "Times change, Himura-san. People do not. I am at peace with the life fate has dealt me, and that is the most I can hope for."

Kenshin continued to stare into the river, unsure of what to do. Kaoru and the others were safe from Gin, that much he felt. She would not attack them without just cause. But her words had disturbed him. No one could be at peace with killing another unless the madness of death had already taken over them. He knew the signs well, had lived through them, and he saw no sign of them in her.

Then again, perhaps she simply learned to hide them.

Heavy-hearted, Kenshin began walking back to the dojo. The sun had just cleared the horizon, the glow fading from the clouds.

_"Gin-chan!"_

Gin looked up from the small flower arrangement she was working on. Sakura was waiting at the door. "Hai?"

"Okamisan wishes to speak with you," the older girl said, and Gin was at the door immediately. When Okamisan wished to speak with you, there was no delaying for any reason unless you wanted to feel the blunt side of her cane.

The two girls walked through the house, occasionally stopping to bow to the geisha's as they walked by. Both of them were maiko's, and even though she was younger than the other girl by almost four years, Gin was allowed to assist Arisa, the most expensive woman of the house.

They walked to the small study that Okami used to entertain visitors and found one of the servant girls standing there, holding a tray of sake. "Here," she whispered, handing the tray to Gin. "She wants you to serve."

The girl was puzzled, but accepted the tray. She gave her hair a pat to make sure it was flat before kneeling down and opening the door.

"Ah, there she is!" a male voice said as she swiveled into the room, picked up the tray, and closed the screen behind her. She approached the table, making sure to keep her eyes downcast as her mother had taught her. 

"Yes, my little silver mine," Okami laughed as she set the tray down and began passing out the cups. There were two other men in the room, both of whom were watching her carefully. Artfully, she picked up the bottle. "Sake?"

One of the other men laughed heartily. "And her voice! Try telling us she's ten again, Okami!"

The man gestured to Okamisan, who in turn denied the sake. Gin began pouring sake into the guests' cups.

The madam laughed, and Gin could visualize the small smile on the woman's face. "Just turned ten, Tashiro-san. Hasn't even begun bleeding yet."

She felt a blush crawl up her face at that, but she continued to pour the sake as if nothing had been said, careful to make sure none of the liquid spilled. She settled back on her knees, waiting for the next command.

A hand lifted her face. "Come, let's see those eyes of yours."

She froze. No male had ever been allowed to touch her before, not even the boys who helped in the kitchen. Gin saw Okamisan nod from the corner of her eye, and looked at the man nearest her. He wasn't someone she recognized. He was heavyset, perhaps in his late thirties. He wore the outfit of a samurai, and she knew if she looked down she'd see a katana and short sword next to him.

"Exceptional," he said as his thumb brushed over her lips. She jerked back, her face flaming.

"And so shy, Nando," the other man, Tashiro, said. "Look at how she blushes!"

The man who had touched her, Nando laughed. "Yes, but this makes her exquisite," his hand reached out and lifted a lock of her hair. 

Gin was close to panicking. In ten years she'd never felt so vulnerable. Normally she was kept away from any of the customers that frequented the Night Blossom. From her earliest memory she had been Okamisan's 'silver mine', and the woman had equal parts spoiled and tortured her. At four she was already learning to read and write, how to speak, how to move gracefully, how to dance and play the shamisen and flute. Now she could do any of those things without thinking about it, thanks to her teachers constantly drumming her lessons into her, and beating them into her when drumming seemed ineffective. She remembered an argument once between Okamisan and her mother concerning her training. The madam had begun her training at an unusually early age, and by the time she was eight she'd already progressed from being a tamago to a maiko. Okamisan had argued that she wouldn't waste any time, that the moment the girl was ready she was to be auctioned. 

As the man played with her hair, lifting it and turning it so that it shone in the lantern light, she watched her mistress. It was Okamisan's pride and joy, her silver tresses. It tumbled down her back like silk, and almost brushed her knees. She might starve or be beaten to a pulp by her instructors, but so long as her hair was always clean and shining, Okamisan would find nothing wrong with her. She had to keep it down at all times, no matter what she was doing, so it wouldn't break off or thin out anywhere. The only time she was allowed to pull it out of her face was when she was practicing calligraphy, and that was only after a lock had fallen into the ink. 

"One day she will surpass her mother," the old woman banged her cane on the floor. "Who knows, perhaps even her grandmother!"

The woman laughed. Gin knew of her grandmother. She had been mistress to the shogun himself in her youth, before age had taken away some of her charm. Rumor had it that when the old shogun died he had done so calling for her.

Without thinking she turned and refilled the cup Tashiro held out to her. Nando had yet to touch his drink.

"Now, how much do you want for her?"

Gin almost dropped the sake pot she was so startled. How much? She was being sold?

"Now, now, Nando, I told you. She's too young, hasn't even started that part of her training yet. Give me a few years, and then we'll talk."

"So you can sell her off to the highest bidder while I'm off on campaign? No thank you. How much?"

Gin folded her hands in her lap, head down, while inside she wanted to run away. This couldn't be happening. She was too young, had yet to learn about men and their ways yet. She still had years of training to go before she was presented. She might have been maiko, but there were several things she was still too young to understand. She stiffened when she felt Okamisan's assessing gaze on her, and her heart sank. The old bitch was actually considering it.

"100,000."

Nando laughed. "You cant be serious? Maybe if she were trained-"

"She'd be worth ten times that much then," Okami shot back.

"Fifty thousand."

"Ninety."

"Seventy-five thousand."

"Eighty, and that's as low as I'll go. I wont sell her at a loss."

Gin's mind whirled. She knew for a fact that the slavers sold girls prettier than her for less than ten thousand. Nando looked in her direction, and she could feel his gaze searing her. Please, no, she thought. She couldn't be taken from her home, her mother. That had to be why Okamisan had demanded such an outrageous price, knowing that no one would spend that much just to own another.

"Done," her heart sank. "It'll be six months before I can return for her. I'd like her trained as much as possible in that time."

Okamisan nodded. "I'll see to it personally. When can I expect payment?"

"When I return from Osaka," Nando added and stood. Gin stood as well, and saw the two men out. She waited a moment before standing and walking to her mistress. "Okami-sama…"

"What, girl?" the old woman sipped her tea calmly, not even looking at her.

"Please don't-"

Okami snorted. "It's already done. Unless he dies you're his now."

Gin collapsed, feeling real fear take over her. There must be something. She could feel her eyes filling with tears. She bowed low, forehead brushing the mat. "Okami-sama, please, what did I do? Tell me and I'll make it right, I swear!"

Okami looked at her coldly. "There's nothing to be done."

The tears overflowed, making twin trails down her face as she looked up. "Okamisan, you cant-"

The blow knocked her to the floor. Her mistress might be old, but fragile she wasn't, and her strikes often had her whole weight behind them. "I feed and clothe you, girl. There's nothing I cant do concerning you. Now, clean up this mess. Tomorrow you begin training with the older girls."

Slowly, Gin picked herself up. "Yes, Okami-sama," she whispered as she stacked the cups.

Gin opened her eyes. Years had passed since she last thought of that day, that moment. The moment the wheel of her destiny began to spin out of control. So much had happened since then, and she often wondered what her life would be like if Nando hadn't bought her, if so much had been different. 

_" You have been many things in your life, Gin, death isn't the only path you can take."_

Kenshin's words had struck her like a blow. What else could she do? Return to the floating world and be a geisha? She'd sworn she would take her own life before she ever went back to being someone else's property, a pretty toy for a man to play with and chase after until he was no longer interested. Artistry? Her hand was steady enough, her characters perfect, but she had no real desire behind her training. What was left for her then? Marriage? Who would accept a women with no past? How could she explain herself to someone who would have no understanding of her life?

Other paths indeed.

She heard the gate behind the house open and close, and looked down from her perch in a tree to watch Kenshin walk into the kitchen. So, he cooked as well, she thought as the sounds of pots being moved drifted through the air. The morning had a bite to it, signaling that summer was finally ending. The day would be cooler than any since spring.

______________________________

Thank you so much for reading this!!!!!! Special carmel covered thanks goes out to Nola, Kitty Katana, and haku baiko for their wonderful reviews!!! Thanks so much guys, I'm glad you like reading my drivel J 

Please, remember to leave a donation in the feedback box on your way out. My muse has to eat sometime you know! I take all suggestions and questions to heart, so if you have something to add, let me know! All reviews are placed on a shrine near my desk for moral support. Flames will be eaten with soy sauce and rum!

Oh, and Kitty Katana, romance will definitely be in the air in this story, though with who I don't know yet, but it will be coming eventually. Lemon too, if I can manage it ^_~

And one more thing, I've adjusted the timeline slightly, so Kenshin will be a hitokiri for about six months longer than he was in the series, so please don't attack me if the timeline doesn't exactly match up. Trust me, I needed to, you'll see why.

And finally, some definitions and cultural notes for those interested…

Maiko- a geisha in training, usually between the ages of 16 and 18.

Tamago- young girls who are not yet maiko. Usually used for cleaning staff and they observe their older 'sisters' (geisha and maiko)

Shamisen- the three traditional string instruments.

Okamisan- usual name for the madam of the house.

Geisha's were not prostitutes. The choice to give someone sexual services was entirely up to them, unless they were brought by that person from a house, in which case they became the man's property. Geisha's primary roles were as entertainment and conversationalists, more for company than anything else. What the true traditional life of the geisha was pre Bakumatsu is unknown, and what little we do know about them is based on what we're told by late nineteenth and early twentieth century women who lived the life. So, whose to say that Gin wasn't trained at such a young age? Considering that she was so unusual, and the fact that madams are shrewd business women, it seemed right to me that she would begin her training extremely early, so that by the time she came of age everything would be second nature.


	5. the price of lunch

"Oi, I'm starving."

Sagara Sanouske jumped over the short back fence of the dojo, stomach growling. Not for the first time he considered going to the fox lady and seeing what was wrong with him. Someone who ate as much as he did should be a fat blob of flesh. "Still, don't knock a good thing," he muttered. His stomach growled again, reminding him that he'd had nothing for hours. Maybe it was because the weather was colder that his stomach was acting up. After all, it took more energy to keep warm in winter than in summer, didn't it?

The dojo was unusually silent. At that time of afternoon Jo-chan was already at least fifteen minutes into knocking Yahiko around, with Kenshin at his usual post scrubbing laundry. Instead the yard was calm, no sign of anyone. Not even Ayame and Suzumi were around.

Sanouske gnawed on his fishbone and walked to the dojo. Yahiko was inside, practicing, a look of grim determination on his face. "Hey, Yahiko, where's everyone?"

The boy didn't stop swinging. "Kenshin went to get tofu while busu cooks lunch. She should be in the kitchen."

Sano sighed. Great, he'd have to deal with missy's cooking today. Well, anything was better than starving outright. "Thanks, Yahiko-chan."

"DONT CALL ME CHAN!" Sano dodged the bokken that flew at his head, laughing. Sometimes it was too easy getting a rise out of Yahiko. 

The ex-gangster's stomach growled again, and Sano headed towards the kitchen. Hell, he'd be willing to help her if it meant they'd actually have something edible on the table. And who ever heard of a woman who didn't know how to cook in the first place? She barely made a descent pot of tea, and that was just boiled water and herbs!

"Hey, Jo-chan, you need..."

Sano trailed off. The person in the kitchen wasn't Kaoru, and it definitely wasn't Kenshin. Soujiro? What the hell was he doing in Tokyo? Whoever it was acted like they belonged there though. "Who'er you?"

The person turned around. _Woman_, Sanouske corrected himself, noting the way her gi framed her breasts. Unlike Kaoru, she didn't wear any wrappings, so he could see the inner curves where the top had begun to gap. _Nice ones, too,_ he thought. 

"Can I help you?"

Her voice was deep, almost masculine. In fact, it was only a little lighter than Kenshins. Sano grinned. He'd never been attracted to women who thought that high pitched voices were sexy. Sounded like rats scratching on a chalk board if you asked him. Silently, he thanked whatever kami had been listening to his late night fantasies and dropped this woman in his lap. Sano had to force his mind out of the gutter. "I was looking for Kaoru. Yahiko said she was in here."

The woman looked past him, as if she could see the boy in the dojo. "Kaoru-san and Himura-san left for the market. They should return shortly."

"Aa," Sano rubbed the back of his head. Why didn't Yahiko tell him about this woman? "I'm Sanouske, by the way. Sagara Sanouske."

The woman nodded. "Gin," she turned around and continued chopping vegetables. Sano enjoyed the view for a moment. He'd definitely have to rethink his views on women in men's clothing. Who knew a hakima could be so revealing?

_Okay, time for plan B._ "So, what ya making?" he asked, sliding closer to her. 

"Food."

_Talkative, isn't she?_ "What kind?"

Gin gestured with the knife to the assortment of vegetables laid out on the counter.

Perfect opportunity. Sano walked up next to her and began examining the vegetables. Actually, he was examining her. _Nice skin, hair's a bit short though,_ he thought to himself. At first glance she could be mistaken for a boy, but that was mostly because of her clothing. _Yep, definitely a woman,_ he added, watching her hands. Didn't talk much though, but he chuckled to himself. She didn't really have to talk for what he was planning.

"What's that?" he asked, walking behind her. Just one quick brush...

And Sano found himself staring at the ceiling.

"It's very impolite to stare at someone, even more so to grope a stranger."

Sano winced as he lifted his head. Gin was still cutting vegetables, acting as if nothing had happened. He rubbed the back of his head. He hadn't even seen her move. "What the hell was that for?"

"I would have thought it obvious." _chop...chop...chop..._

Later, Sanouske would wonder what possessed him. He stood, feeling justifiably angry. After all, she didn't have to floor him for a simple touch, did she? "You know, you should-" he reached out and grabbed her wrist.

For the second time that afternoon Sano found himself on the floor, admiring the ceiling. The only difference was that now he had a knife poised at his throat.

"Um, I was going to suggest cutting the radishes first," he said lamely, and winced as the knife bit into his neck. _Wonderful, _he thought. _Here lies Sagara Sanouske, killed by someone half his height for copping a feel._

"Sano, are you in-"

Sanouske breathed a sigh of relief as the shoji slid open. No way would Kenshin let him die in his kitchen, at the very least because he wouldn't want to clean up all the blood. 

"Gin, _ Yamero!"_

Instantly, the knife and the weight on his chest were gone. "Kenshin, you know her?" he asked as he picked himself up off the floor.

The rurouni nodded. "What happened?" he asked, and Sano paused. Kenshin didn't sound like himself. He sounded...assertive?

"Ask your friend," the woman answered, turning back to the counter. _chop...chop...chop..._

"Sano?"

Sanouske looked at his friend, a friend who was currently staring at him with disapproval. " You know me, Kenshin," he said, trying to find a way out of the situation. No way would he admit to being a pervert.

Kenshin looked from him, to Gin, then back to him, resignation coming into this eyes, and something else, something like understanding. In that moment Sano developed a new found respect for his friend. So, Kenshin had the same taste that he did? And here he'd been giving up hope. Good_ to know he's not dead below the waist._

"Sano, Kaoru wishes to speak with you," Kenshin turned and walked down the hallway.

Sano waited for a moment before following. There was no way he wanted to turn his back on this woman. 

"Sano?"

The younger man started down the hall. "So, who's she, Kenshin? Finally got a girlfriend?"

The look on the rurouni's face was priceless. _Well, that answers that question, he really can turn as red as his hair._ "Hey, you mean I was right?!"

"No!" The blush faded. "Gin is a friend. She will be staying here at Kaoru's insistence. I would suggest that you try not to anger her, that I would."

Sano grinned. " I was just tryin ta be nice."

Kenshin sighed. "Sano, Gin is not like other women. She could easily have killed you, and felt herself justified in the doing, that she could."

Sano's grin began to fade. Kenshin wasn't talking about killing him in the sense that Kaoru would kill him if she knew he used her well to cool sake when she wasn't looking. He was talking about the permanent kind of kill. " Touchy, is she?"

"She does not respond well to men being 'nice' to her, that she does not."

His eyes widened. "Oh," he murmured, looking back towards the kitchen. "Where did you say you met her?"

Kenshin began walking back towards the kitchen. "I did not. Kaoru is really looking for you, Sano. Something to do with sake being in the well this morning."

Sanouske took a deep breath, comparing his choices. From the smell of it, lunch would be well worth the beating Kaoru would give him.

Gin was still at the counter, shredding radish as if nothing had happened. "That was Sanouske," he said.

She nodded. "He introduced himself."

Kenshin felt he should at least defend his friend to some extent. "He is a good man, whose intentions are often noble," if one discounted the drinking, the gambling, the swearing, the women....

"Who are you trying to convince, Himura-san, me or yourself?"

He walked to the stove and began stirring the soup. "Perhaps you should stop being so formal with me, Gin-san. I am no longer your sensei."

Gin arranged the radish on a bed of beef teriyaki. "What would you like to be called?"

"My given name would be fine," the rurouni answered.

The woman glanced at him. "Why do you speak differently with them?"

He paused in the stirring. "What do you mean?"

Gin looked him full in the face. "When you speak to them you debase yourself, as if you were speaking to your betters. Why? You never did so before."

He didn't answer.

"Nor do you do so with me."

Kenshin thought on her words. It was the truth, with her he spoke without his usual humbleness. That was something he needed to work on."Sessha-"

"Don't say that."

The rurouni looked at her. "Hm?"

Gin set the knife slowly on the counter and turned to face him. Her dark eyes were mirror-like, letting nothing in or out. There was something in her voice, though, the barest hint of indignation that broke through the voice he knew so well. "You are not 'unworthy', Hi... Kenshin. You have done nothing to consider yourself so, no matter what you believe."

"I don't agree, that I do not," he answered, his voice rough with memory as he turned to leave.

"So you'll hold me at a distance as well now?"

The red-head turned back. Gin was staring out the window, hands at her sides. "Nani?"

"With your words. You always did so with everyone else, even Katsura-san. I am not your better, Kenshin. Nor should you ever feel so."

"Bakayero!" Kaoru muttered to herself as she walked to her room. She couldn't believe that Sanouske had been using her well to chill is liquor. The problem wasn't that he did it, in fact, she might have allowed it if he'd asked. And that was the problem.

He didn't ask.

So, that morning when she went to get water to wash, she'd almost tipped a bucket that contained very little water and a half-full jug of sake onto her head. As it was, she had a nice bruise forming on her foot, where the bucket had landed.

"Yo, Jo-chan!"

Kaoru froze. there he was. She knew he'd be at the dojo. It was almost lunch time, and Sano never missed the opportunity to have a free meal.

"Kenshin said-"

Kaoru turned around and punched Sanouske, knocking the wind out of him. "Idiot!"

_Great, twice in a single day. must be losing my touch,_ the fighter thought. "What was that for?"  
Kaoru straightened to her full height and looked down her nose at him, a feat considering that he was almost a good foot taller than she was. "This morning there was sake in the well, Sagara Sanouske."

He shrugged. "Most people would find that a blessing."

"Not when its about to fall on their head!"

He smiled sheepishly. He wondered if that would happen, but discounted it. what kind of idiot tipped a bucket without looking inside first? "Look, Jo-chan, I'm sorry..." 

"Yeah. Sorry you didn't get it out last night or something, right?"

She growled when he didn't answer her. "Just like I thought. You might as well go help Gin in the kitchen, and do something for your food." The look on Sano's face was priceless. "What?"

"Why don't I help you in the dojo?"

Kaoru blinked. Help her...in the dojo. "You?"

"You don't see anyone else around do you?" he asked, growing annoyed.

Kaoru smiled to herself. He wouldn't back out after volunteered, not if he wanted to save face. She could get him back for all the things that he'd done over the last few years and never got the opportunity.

"All right."

A/N

Thanks so much for reading this!!!!!!! I know you have better things to do than reading my drivel J 

Please, people, give me feedback!!!! Liked it, hated it, seen something that I've done wrong? Have suggestions for me? Let me know!!!I love hearing what people think!!! All reviews will be placed on a shrine next to my computer for moral support and insipration!!!! Flames will be eaten with soy sauce and rum, so send at your own risk!!!!!


	6. Somethings just arent right

Sanosuke groaned as he walked towards the dojo, his muscles stiff and sore. No wonder Yahiko yelled so much when he was training with Kaoru, the girl was completely unforgiving. Half and hour training with an angry Kaoru was like falling down a cliff.  
"At least she didn't hit anything really vital," he muttered to himself. When he looked at himself that morning, surveying the damage, there had been a liberal amount of bokken-sized purple marks across his torso, probably more across his back. "You're welcome to her, Kenshin."  
It was nearly noon before he was able to drag himself off his futon and check on his friends. Months had gone by since the last time someone threatened Kenshin's life, and the lack of danger was beginning to grate on Sanosuke's nerves. If someone didn't try to kill the ex-assassin soon, he might actually begin to worry.  
"Not as if he doesn't deserve a normal life," the ex-gangster thought as he kicked absently at a rock. Maybe word had spread that Kenshin was the one who took down Shishio, and everyone else who had a grudge against him was giving the small man a wide berth.  
"Oi, Kenshin!" Sano called as he walked through the back gate, which despite everything that had happened was always unlocked during the day. It was after lunch, so unless Genzai had dropped his grandchildren off, Kenshin should be there. "You here?"  
Sano walked around the side of the dojo and found his friend leaning idly against one of the pillars, facing away from the courtyard. Probably dreaming about Kaoru, Sano thought as he walked closer. "Kenshin, what's." he trailed off, coming to a halt a few feet away from his friend. Usually, the red-haired man was all smiles when he saw his friends. This time he didn't even acknowledge him. Kenshin didn't have the dreamy-eyed look of someone fantasizing about their beloved. His eyes were hard, concentrating.  
Sano looked into the dojo, and saw why. The woman Gin was there, kneeling on the floor with her eyes closed, hands folded in her lap as if she were meditating. A Katana and a short sword were crossed in front of her, and two foot-long poles were on either side of her knees.  
Without opening her eyes Gin reached out and grasped the two poles, lifting herself off her folded legs. In one smooth motion she was up, the poles moving in a blur as she defended against opponents that weren't there, falling back and dodging imaginary blows. She moved with assurance, even though her eyes were still closed. Never did she run into the walls, or trip over her daisho, which was still in the middle of the dojo floor. She danced over them, nimbly.  
Suddenly, she jerked her arms down, and two crescent shaped blades came out of the poles. Sano leaned back against the railing. He'd never seen kama's with hidden blades before. As he watched more closely he began noticing that her movements, even though she was using a different weapon, were similar to the moves Kenshin used.  
Eyes still closed, she began to change her style. No longer was she dodging away from assailants, now she seemed to be chasing them, slashing at them with the two shining blades. She ran up one of the walls and flipped behind her attacker, the kama's slicing a clean path through where the man's neck was no doubt supposed to be.  
Sano turned his attention back to Kenshin. The other man just sat, arms folded, watching Gin with almost unblinking eyes. Anyone would have thought the rurouni relaxed, but after so many months of fighting along side his friend Sano knew better. Kenshin was waiting for something.  
In the dojo Gin flipped backwards, her feet almost brushing the ceiling as she brought the kama's down on her opponents head in what looked to him like a ryu-tsui-sen.  
In a flash Kenshin moved. Sano barely caught a flash of magenta as his friend threw something into the dojo. The moment Gin's feet touched the floor a small object when hurtling towards her. There was a solid clang as the stone was deflected into the room, and one of the kama's came whirling in Kenshin's direction.  
Sano tried to speak, but before the words were out of his mouth Kenshin had caught the weapon by its blade, his eyes never having left Gin. Slowly, he got to his feet and flipped the weapon in his hand so he was holding the hilt.  
Gin was standing now, watching the two men with the same unreadable expression. Beads of sweat were running from her temples, plastering her hair to her forehead, though she wasn't breathing very hard. After a moment Kenshin threw the weapon back, which the assassin caught deftly with one hand, before turning and walking away from the dojo. Sano looked to Gin, who only gave him the barest of glances before returning to her kata.  
"Okay, what was that?" Sanosuke  
"What was what, Sano?" Kenshin asked calmly as the walked through the courtyard towards the back of the compound.  
"That." Sano gestured between Kenshin and the dojo. "The look, the throwing the rock. THAT."  
Kenshin smiled. Definitely not a good sign. "I was checking her reflexes, that I was."  
Sano looked incredulously at his friend, but knew he wouldn't get anything else out of him. The man was as tightlipped as a sea turtle when it came to something he didn't want to talk about.  
  
"Ken-san, Ken-san!"  
Kenshin smiled as Ayame and Suzume came barreling into the dojo, followed by Dr. Genzai, who was wearing his usual smile. The two girls ran full tilt into the rurouni, overbalancing him and almost sending all three toppling over onto the small sprouts he had been tending.  
"Good afternoon, Kenshin," Genzai said, looking over the smaller man's shoulder. "What are you planting?"  
Kenshin wiped his hands on the gray hakima he was wearing. "Kamatsuna, mitsuba, osaya endo, and wax melon." He looked around at the medium sized plot Kaoru allowed him next to the shed. He still remembered the look of shock on her face when he asked for a place to plant vegetables after returning from Kyoto. "We should have enough to preserve and last us through the first half of winter." Not to mention that the vegetables would save money on groceries.  
"Anyone helping you?"  
Kenshin scratched the back of his head. "Iie. Kaoru-dono is no good around vegetables, and Yahiko refuses." There were still scratch marks on the railing of the porch from the one time Kenshin had attempted to force the young man to help him. He adamantly refused, even though Kenshin tried to remind him that every samurai needed a softer skill to balance himself.  
"Gran-pa, gran-pa!" the two girls latched onto their grandfather and began pulling him towards the dojo. "There's a lady who can pull money out of your head!" Ayame squeaked.  
"She gave Ayame a coin!" Suzume added. "Pulled it right out her ear!"  
Kenshin followed the trio to where Gin was sitting, dressed in a fresh hakima and gi. "Back for more?" she asked.  
When the two girls nodded she pulled Suzume closer. "Let's see. I think I see something in there," she said with all seriousness, looking into the girl's ear. "Wait, I think I have it." With much pulling and huffing she finally produced a small silver coin.  
"Me again! Me!" Ayame was jumping up and down.  
Gin shook her head. "Sorry, you can only take one out every week. Each coin is a memory you've lost. If I take out one now, it would be a fresh memory."  
The two girls looked down at their coins sadly. "Don't worry," Gin added. "They weren't good ones anyway. Be careful where you spend them."  
"Hai!"  
The two girls ran off again, chattering about their new-found wealth.  
"You certainly have a way with them," Genzai said.  
"Gin-san, this is Dr. Genzai. Dr. Genzai, this is Gin. She will be staying here for a few weeks." Kenshin said by way of introduction.  
Genzai nodded. "Honored to meet you."  
Gin nodded in return. "Likewise. I have heard many good things about your granddaughters."  
The old doctor chuckled. "Nothing true, I hope." He looked around. "Where is Kaoru?"  
"She went into the city with Yahiko and Sano to do some shopping," Kenshin answered. The bag of coins that Gin had given him that morning had been a godsend for Kaoru. The dojo's funds had been running dangerously low, though she attempted to hide it from them. Even with that, she had refused to take the money he offered until he simply dropped the bag at her feet and walked away. Afterwards she had practically kidnapped the two, citing that many of the things she needed to buy were primarily because of their presence in her house.  
"Ahhhh," Genzai said thoughtfully. "I was hoping I could speak to her about something, but no matter. I can wait until she returns." He settled on the porch next to Gin. "In the meantime, you can tell me all about yourself, starting with any ailments you might have."  
Kenshin smiled, but that smile faded when he did not see it echoed in Gin's face. Even when playing with Ayame and Suzume, the small smile that had flitted at her mouth never reached her eyes.  
  
"So, who'd you bother this time?" Megumi asked as she spread some salve over the worst of Sano's wounds."  
The younger man muttered something, and Megumi smiled. "What was that?" she asked, applying a little more pressure to the bruise than she needed to.  
"Kaoru," Sanouske grumbled, fighting a sigh of relief when the woman's hands became gentle again. He'd just gotten back from 'shopping' with the dojo owner, where he'd been forced to carry the heaviest things she could find. "And don't ask what I did!" he added.  
Megumi shook her head and reached for more salve. "Why were you practicing with Kaoru in the first place, or did the little tanuki just attack you."  
More muttering followed this question before he finally answered. "It was the price of lunch. It was either that, or help make it."  
Megumi laughed. "Like Ken-san would let you anywhere near his kitchen."  
"Actually, he wasn't cooking."  
The doctor paused in washing her hands. "Surely Yahiko wasn't-"  
"No," Sano turned to face his friend. "You haven't heard yet, have you?"  
"Heard what?"  
Sano smiled. "Someone else is staying at the dojo now. A woman from Kenshin's past," he pretended to stare off into the distance. "She has skin like white jade, hair like silk."  
"Really?" Megumi asked slowly as she came up behind the ex-gangster. "And what is she doing there?"  
Sano smiled. He couldn't resist the urge to tease Megumi when the situation presented itself. "She's living there."  
"And Kaoru's-"  
"Given full permission," Sano cut in, flexing his muscles. The salve was already taking the worst of the soreness away. "Thanks Fox Lady," he called over his shoulder as he walked out of the clinic.  
"And don't call me that!" Megumi yelled after him, slamming to shoji with more force than was necessary. She walked slowly back into the clinic. Another person from Kenshin's past was there, someone who wasn't trying to kill him.  
Megumi rubbed her hands together and looked at the clock. Dr. Genzai should have been back from dropping his grandchildren off nearly an hour ago. She'd have to wait until he came back to go see who this new person was.  
  
"So, how has the cough been?"  
Kaoru smiled. "Getting better. Who would have thought I'd catch a chill in the middle of summer."  
"And the cramping?"  
The smile faltered. "Almost gone."  
Kaoru began to fidget under the doctor's stare. In truth, the cramping in her abdomen was the same, sometimes better, sometimes worse. The cough as well. She was worried that once winter set in the cold would make it worse. If that happened there was no way to keep Kenshin from finding out that she was sick. It had been difficult to keep her condition from Kenshin, the man watched her like a mother hen. A week after returning from Kyoto she had developed a cough that refused to go away, though it did fade for a while before coming back. The cramping had begun then as well. Dr Genzai informed her that it was nothing, she'd simply caught a stomach ailment coupled with a summer cold. As the months passed and her condition didn't alter, they both had the sneaking suspicion that it was something more. "Have you been taking the herbs I prescribed?" he asked.  
Kaoru nodded. "Twice a day, after I wake up and before I go to sleep."  
"And your diet?"  
"I've been eating more red meats," Kaoru winced at the thought. Beef was expensive, as was pork. Earlier that month the butcher had boasted that he'd received a fresh shipment of tiger meat. Though it was supposed to be good for ailments the price had been ridiculous. "And drinking more plain water, as you said."  
"Any weight loss?"  
Kaoru shook her head. "Not that I've noticed."  
Finally Genzai smiled. "Good. Keep taking the herbs I prescribed." He patted her hand fondly. "Don't worry yourself, Kaoru. It's probably just a nasty cold."  
Kaoru smiled and stood to see Dr. Genzai out, though it slipped the moment the shoji closed behind him. There was something wrong with her. She hadn't felt completely like herself in months. She sighed and counted out a few coins from the bag. There was an old woman in the poor quarter who was supposed to be able to identify any kind of illness. Though Genzai had warned her about taking the advice of those not trained in medicine, Kaoru thought it was time to get more traditional advice.  
  
Kenshin waved to Ayame and Suzume as they danced around their grandfather, heading back to the clinic. His mind was working furiously, though. Dr. Genzai had looked so serious when he said he needed to speak to Kaoru, and they had gone inside, out of his hearing, to speak. He had been noticing small things about his friend as well. Her eating habits had changed, and she took to drinking a strange tea in the mornings and evenings. Her color was slightly off as well, and she coughed often. When he asked her about these things she insisted that she was fine, or that he was imagining things.  
The rurouni's eyes narrowed as he walked back into the compound. Perhaps it was time he and Kaoru had a serious talk about what she was trying to keep from him.  
  
THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU So much for reading my drivel. Special chocolate covered Kenshin thanks goes out to Nola and haku baikou for their great reviews. Apologies all around for the massive delay in updating.

PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE leave reviews!!!! I love them, I need them, I crave them!!1 All reviews are placed on a shrine next to my computer. Flames will be eaten with soy sauce and rum!!!!!


	7. Cobbeled Streets

"Kaoru-dono?"  
  
Kaoru jumped slightly, fighting the guilty blush that was bathing her cheeks. "Hai?" She had thought to wait until Kenshin started dinner to slip out with a note explaining that she needed to talk to Tae about 'women's things', and that she would be home before dinner was ready. That would ensure that Kenshin wouldn't come after her, and that Yahiko wouldn't try to ask Subame about anything. The mere mention of 'women's things' was enough to send both males into seizures.  
  
"Where are you walking to so late, Kaoru-dono?"  
  
The young woman turned and swallowed. Kenshin sounded way too serious to allow her to slip away easily. "I wanted to talk to Tae about something," she said, surprised by how steady her voice sounded. She looked at the sky. "Besides, the sun hasn't even begun to set. I'll be home before it's completely dark."  
  
Kenshin's eyes narrowed for the barest of instants. "I will accompany you, Kaoru-dono. It is much to late for you to go walking about the city on your own, that it is."  
  
"That's.that's all right," Kaoru said. "We're going to talk about women's business, Kenshin. You wouldn't feel comfortable."  
  
"Then I will wait in the restaurant."  
  
Kaoru felt her temper slipping through her fingers. All she had to do was stay calm for a little while longer and he'd let her go. "I am a master of Kamiya Kashin Ryuu, Kenshin. I can take care of myself."  
  
Kenshin cocked his head. "Yet you do not carry your bokken, that you do not, Kaoru-dono."  
  
That was it. "Listen Himura Kenshin! If I want to go somewhere I don't need you following me around like some kind of-"  
  
"I will accompany you if you wish, Kaoru-san."  
  
The two turned to find Gin watching them, her expression neutral. "What?"  
  
The woman walked between the two of them. "Kaoru, you wish to speak with Tae privately. Kenshin, you do not want her to go alone. I am a woman, so nothing you discuss will disturb me, and I am capable of protecting both of us."  
  
She spoke with the calm of someone reciting what they needed to but from the market, Kaoru thought, but it would be better than nothing. All she needed to do was convince the other woman not to tell Kenshin where they were really going. "If it wouldn't be too much trouble," Kaoru said.  
  
"None at all. I wanted to go into the city tonight. Will this work for you, Kenshin?"  
  
He glanced between the two women before nodding. "Hai. How long will you be?"  
  
Kaoru spoke first. "I planned on being home before dinner was ready. An hour, perhaps." She turned to Gin. "Will that be enough time for you?"  
  
Gin nodded. "More than enough."  
  
Relief flooded Kaoru. "Are you ready now?"  
  
Gin nodded again.  
  
"Then let's go!" She smiled. "I wanted to show you Tokyo soon anyway! Tae makes the best yakisoba in the whole city!"  
  
Kaoru continued to chatter on about the different things that could be seen in Tokyo as they walked further away from the dojo. She knew Kenshin wouldn't be following them. He would have dinner prepared when they returned home, and that meant he had to stay home. Yahiko was already at the Akabeko, so all she needed to do was make an appearance, speak to Tae, and walk out the backdoor without anyone knowing what was going on. All she needed to do now was figure out what to say to Gin.  
  
"Where are you really going, Kaoru-san?"  
  
The question stopped Kaoru's train of thought, and her chattering, dead. "We're going to speak with a friend of mine, Gin-san."  
  
The other woman stopped walking and turned to face her. "We are not going anywhere you would be comfortable having Himura follow, Kaoru-san," she said matter-of-factly. "I agreed to come with you to save the two of you arguing, but now I want to know where we're heading."  
  
Kaoru wilted under the steady gaze of Kenshin's friend. She had the feeling that the other woman already knew where she was going, and was only waiting for Kaoru to say it out loud. "I'm going to the poor quarter to see a woman who's supposed to be able to heal people," Kaoru said finally, then rushed ahead. "I didn't want Kenshin to know because he would worry and wouldn't want me to go. Please don't tell him!"  
  
Gin cocked her head. "Why would I tell Himura-san something that didn't concern him?"  
  
Kaoru blinked. She hadn't expected that answer. "Because he's your friend?" she asked tentatively.  
  
"But the business is not his own," Gin started forward. "Come, I believe I know the home of the woman you speak of."  
  
Kaoru started after Gin as she began walking towards the city center. She couldn't believe that she was so lucky. Gin wouldn't tell Kenshin anything, so she didn't need to worry anymore. Swiftly, she caught up, cursing her kimono and wishing she'd worn her hakama instead. Her kimono was beautiful and made her feel the same when she wore it, but it severely hampered her movements. "Hey, how are you supposed to protect us if you're wearing a kimono?"  
  
Gin pulled a kunai from seemingly nowhere. "I am more than prepared," she said before slipping the weapon back where she was hiding it. She threw something at Kaoru. "But if you don't feel comfortable."  
  
Kaoru caught the object without thinking. It was slim and black. She pulled at one end and a sliver of steel caught her eye. It was a dagger. "I can't use this," she said.  
  
"Then you should learn."  
  
"That wasn't what I meant." Frowning, the younger woman tucked the weapon into the fold of her obi. "How come you can walk so fast in that?"  
  
Gin stopped again and turned to her companion. "My kimono is altered to allow my arms and legs easy movement." She lifted one part of the skirt and Kaoru's eyes widened as it split, revealing more fabric. When Gin released the fabric it fell back into place, the split hidden in the intricate embroidery.  
  
"Oh," Kaoru said, surprised. You couldn't tell anything was different about what Gin was wearing. "Who made it?"  
  
"I did," Gin answered. "I apologize if my steps are too wide. I will slow down."  
  
"Thanks," Kaoru said absently as Gin turned and began walking again, much slower this time. Kenshin's friend was confusing. And cold. She shivered unconsciously as she recalled every time she'd met the other woman's gaze. Her eyes were black, which made them look like two solid pools of darkness. Coupled with her paleness and cold manner the overall affect was disturbing. She spoke with no real emotion, as if nothing were more important than anything else. Kaoru shook herself. Gin was Kenshin's friend, something that was rare in her experience. There must have been something about the other woman that made her worthy of such a thing. _______________________________________________________________________  
  
Gin's eyes swept the streets they walked down. They had stopped at the Akabeko only long enough for Kaoru to ask her friend to cover for her, then slipped into the alleyway, and it was only a few blocks before the buildings became shabbier, the people less well kept. The poor quarter in Tokyo was not a place Kaoru seemed familiar with. The young woman kept her gaze studiously straight, ignoring the whores plying their wares in the street and the shouts of men that echoed out of the gambling and drinking halls. Gin took it all in, mentally marking where she was on the map of the city she already had in her mind. They were perhaps no more than three miles away from Kaoru's home, yet they might as well have been worlds away. Here was nothing of the gentle river, the quiet homes neatly aligned. The poor quarter was a jumble of buildings that seemed to lean against one another for support, their facades cracked and fading.  
  
"This way," Gin said, turning down one of the dark alleyways.  
  
"Hey! Pretty ladies! Looking for company?" A drunken man leaning against the doorframe of one of the gambling halls leered at them, grabbing his crotch. His friends laughed.  
  
"Ignore them," Gin said, and continued walking. She could sense Kaoru falter, but do as she was told.  
  
The man didn't like being brushed off. "Fuck you then," he roared. "Otoko onna!"  
  
Kaoru saw red. Before she knew what was happening she had turned, and started towards the man with arm raised.  
  
An iron hand wrapped around her wrist, stopping Kaoru in mid- strike. Kaoru looked up at her hand. She held the dagger so tightly her knuckles were white. She looked to where the hand was holding her, and followed it along a lavender arm to Gin's dark eyes.  
  
"He's not worth the trouble," she said calmly.  
  
Kaoru's eyes narrowed and she jerked her arm with no affect. Gin's grip held firm. "Let go!" She hissed.  
  
"No."  
  
Kaoru growled and glared at the man, who was watching them with wide eyes. "Who are you calling otoko onna, fatass!" she shouted.  
  
The man's face went pale, then red. Kaoru tried to move her arm again, with no result. The man pushed away from the doorway.  
  
And laughed.  
  
"Nani?" Kaoru whispered as the stranger roared with laughter, doubling over and slapping his leg. Without another word he turned and walked back into the drinking hall.  
  
"Have you calmed down now?" Gin asked before releasing Kaoru's arm.  
  
The younger woman rubbed her wrist. "I wasn't going to hurt him," she grumbled.  
  
Gin started walking again. "I wasn't protecting him." "I could have taken him." Gin raised an eyebrow. "I'm sure you could have. But you wouldn't have been able to deal with the four just inside the door." Kaoru turned back to the building and saw four men standing just inside the door- less opening, watching the two women. "Exactly," the other woman said, and began walking. "And put that away."  
  
The two reached a narrow hut crammed in-between two obviously newer buildings. Next to the door, so faded that the carving was almost unreadable, was the kanji for 'wise woman'.  
  
Kaoru seemed taken aback by the sheer shabbiness of the house, and the smells coming from it, but Gin pushed her foreword. It was much like many of the traditional healing houses that still dotted the cities. There was a wall made up of drawers, some bigger, some smaller, that held everything the wise woman needed to diagnose and treat her customers. Animal parts hung from the rafters, and some over a smoking stove, probably the freshest additions to the woman's collection.  
  
"I was waiting for you to enter," a bundle of tattered cloths said from one corner. "Come to find out what those city doctors don't know?"  
  
Kaoru bowed. "Good afternoon, Obaa-san," she said.  
  
The old woman stood and walked towards them on unsteady feet. Gin watched her closely, and discovered why. The rags and misshapen clothing hid a misshapen body. "Welcome child. Sit down," she gestured to a small, rickety stool. The moment Kaoru sat the woman was pushing her head this way and that, looking into her eyes, checking her ears and mouth, pushing at her fingertips.  
  
"What had been bothering you, child?" she asked finally as she dropped Kaoru's hands.  
  
"Ummm." Kaoru looked from the woman to Gin.  
  
"I'll wait outside," Gin said, ducking beneath the ratty blanket that served as the door.  
  
Gin stood silently outside the building and let her mind drift. Whatever was bothering Kaoru must have been very personal for her to be so secretive. She didn't seem ill, and she had seen her doctor only a few hours before when she attempted to sneak out of the dojo. Still, something must have been bothering her.  
  
The sound of skin hitting skin attracted Gin's attention. Across the street a woman stood holding her face while a man towered over her.  
  
"You'll do what I say, or you go out on the street!" He yelled.  
  
The woman cowered and nodded. "Hai, Tashi-sama." The actions didn't seem to disturb anyone else on the street. They walked past and kept talking as if nothing was happening. Gin looked closer. The 'woman' was still a child, perhaps fourteen years old, and wearing the stylized clothing and hair of a geisha.  
  
"Gin-san, you can come in."  
  
Kaoru's voice called from inside the building, stopping Gin mid- step. She went inside without a backwards glance.  
  
"I think we're done," Kaoru said, looking inside a small cloth bag. "How much is the medicine."  
  
The woman shrugged. "How much do you think its worth?"  
  
Kaoru looked from the woman to Gin to her bag, then pulled out three silver coins and dropped them into a shallow bowl. "Arigato- gozaimasu."  
  
The wise woman looked Gin up and down after Kaoru stepped outside. "You're sure you don't need my help?"  
  
"No."  
  
The old woman sighed and sat back down on her stool. "So young, and so broken," she muttered under her breath as Gin walked outside. "Do you really think this'll work?" Kaoru asked as they walked back towards the Akabeko, holding the leather bag up to the fading sunlight.  
  
"As much as anything would, Kaoru-san," Gin answered.  
  
The younger woman nodded and stuffed the bag into the sleeve of her kimono. "Now, back to Tae's," she said happily and began bouncing down the narrow street.  
  
Gin watched Kaoru with interest. Seldom had she see someone so old be so carefree. Kaoru acted as if there were nothing in the world that could harm her. She sought things out with single minded determination. Blind determination, if Gin were totally honest.  
  
"You think we could sneak something from Tae's without Kenshin knowing?" Kaoru asked suddenly as they turned back onto the cobbled streets of downtown Tokyo. ________________________________________________________________________  
  
Kenshin waited patiently for Gin and Kaoru to return, though his nerves were screaming at him. They had been gone longer than Kaoru had said. The sun was almost completely gone, dinner was nearly ready, and they still hadn't returned.  
  
She will be fine, He told himself as he stirred the soba. Gin would allow no harm to come to her.  
  
The thought was comforting, but only slightly. Gin's idea of protecting Kaoru would probably not coincide with his own. He didn't know how Kaoru would react to someone being killed before her eyes, something that might happen if Gin was pushed to physically defend them. Even when they were younger she'd had no objection to killing her targets. He himself felt a lingering sadness at times, a regret that led him to drink heavily before his assassinations. But for Gin there was nothing, not even a whispered word to the dead.  
  
"Kenshin!"  
  
The rurouni released an audible sigh of relief when Kaoru's voice drifted into the dojo. "Hai, Kaoru-dono. Dinner is ready."  
  
The shoji to the kitchen opened and Kaoru peeked in. "I hope you didn't worry about us," she said.  
  
Kenshin shook his head. "Not at all. Did you find out what you needed to know?"  
  
Kaoru faltered slightly. "I think. I'll have to wait and see."  
  
The red-head sighed as the door to the kitchen closed. Hopefully Kaoru had found out what she needed to know and would begin acting normally again. He'd give her a few more days and then confront her. _______________________________________________________________________  
  
THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU for reading my drivel. So, love it? Hate it? Think I should be taken out into the woods and shot several times? LET ME KNOW!!!!PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE leave feedback!!! I need it, I crave it, so feed the author. I can't fix things that are wrong if you don't talk to me. (  
  
And finally, some notes on the Japanese you see in this fic:  
  
Otoko onna- literally means "man-woman" you'd say this to a bull dyke Obaa-san - I think this translates to a formal way of saying "grandmother". Nice way to refer to an older woman Hai - "yes" 


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